This analysis briefly develops key points essential to this unit.  It is designed for elementary levels but can be easily altered to meet interests of older students.  Each lesson prepares students for a final day hike.  This field trip should end the unit and students should be well prepared by this time.

1. Proper trail finding and reasons for staying on trails.
    In the first lesson students will learn about how to identify walking paths and trails.  Ways of this can be introduced using many of our everyday activity equipment.  Students are able to follow trails all the way around the designated area.  At the end of the trail the class should sit down and discuss what they saw and how they found the trail.  Points to bring up include: there may be different trails to the same destination, important not to step on anything living, safe ways to get over something on the trail, and proper ways of moving something off the trail.
    Students and teacher will discuss reasons for staying on trails including not wanting to kill anything, safety, and staying clear of poisonous plants.
    In excess time allowance students can get into groups and design their own paths that the class can follow.

2.  Identifying Natural Wildlife:
    In the second lesson students will learn about environmental identification.  Through observation and visual aids placed by the teacher prior to class time, students will take a walk around the school grounds identifying different forms of wild life.  The teacher should stop throughout the walk and give thorough descriptions and identification pointers to help able students to identify these objects on their own.  At the end of the walk, pictures should be shown identifying poisonous plants and animals and their markings.  A worksheet can be given to take about this lesson.  This is a very important lesson that should be reviewed each additional class meeting.

3.  First Aid:
    This is another very important lesson taught in outdoor hiking.  This would be a good day to get the school nurse or some medical personal to come be a guest speaker and have him/her demonstrate minor first aid procedures.  Students can also watch a first aid video on this day, and then practice some role playing.  It is good to have students actually perform the first aid to learn proper ways of treating each other or themselves.

4.  The 13 Essentials for hiking and the Outdoors.
    Students will need to discuss what the 13 essentials are and what each is used for.  Students demonstrations of how equipment is used can benefit this lesson.  The importance of each essential should be stressed.  Along with this discussion, proper disposal of wrappers and garbage should be discussed.  A good assignment for this lesson is for students to go home and start collecting all of the 13 essentials and bring them back to school in a bag with their name on it.  These will be brought along on the final hike and can then be used on a personal basis everytime the student goes hiking.

5.  Safety Procedures
    In this lesson students will go over techniques as to what to do if you are lost, what to do if you or someone else is ill or badly hurt, and any other type of emergency.  In this lesson you should also develop the importance of using the buddy system.  Students can role play and act out different emergency systems and practice proper safety procedures.  This should also be the lesson where rules and preventitive measures should be taught.

6.  Final Hike